News of the World vies with the Guardian to be newspaper of the year

Can you believe it? Among the five titles heading the votes to be newspaper of the year are the News of the World and the Guardian.

Or, to put it another way, the paper alleged to have been involved in hacking is up against the paper that revealed the hacking.

What are the grounds for the NoW being on the Press Awards shortlist? It has "set the agenda with exclusive after exclusive", says the chairman of the judges, Bob Satchwell, director of the Society of Editors (and, incidentally, a former NoW assistant editor, but a long time ago).

The other three in the race for the title are the Daily Mail, its sister, the Mail on Sunday, and the Sunday Times.

The awards are judged by a 120-strong "academy" of senior journalists, which includes the editors and managing editors. They choose the winner by a secret vote, and their choice will be revealed at the annual dinner at the Savoy on 5 April.

Satchwell said: "These five papers were ahead of the rest in terms of votes based on the judges' own knowledge and editors' supporting statements describing their achievements across all platforms during 2010.

"They stood out as the best of the best in a dramatic year of great scoops and audience building, and not a little controversy."

He spoke of "the consistently successful Daily Mail", which "has been described as the paper that sets the bar for the rest of Fleet Street."

The Mail on Sunday was described as "consistently brave... with an absolute commitment to holding to account those in authority."

He said the Sunday Times was "cited for fine writing alongside dogged investigative and foreign reporting."

As for the Guardian, WikiLeaks was said to have put it at the top of the news headlines, and "some say it will change relationships between governments and the press and public forever."

Satchwell added: "It is a difficult choice but whatever the final result and however subjective the voting, it will have been based on the judges' passion for an industry that makes the best newspapers in the world."